The present disclosure relates to high flow cartridges, more particularly to replaceable filter cartridges for gas or liquid filtration applications, yet more particularly to a diamond patterned tubular pleated filter element that packs higher usable media surface areas per unit volume than can be achieved with many conventional pleated filter media cartridge filters and even more particularly to the diamond patterned tubular pleated filter elements used in the filter cartridge.
Efforts to provide high flow fluid filtration systems and systems for manufacturing high flow fluid filtration systems including cartridge filters having relatively high flow rate cartridge filters with flow rates up to about 500 gpm (1893 lpm) through a single filter cartridge and systems related thereto have recently been undertaken. Prior efforts (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,842,739 and 5,336,405) resulted in a relative increase in the effective filter media area while minimizing filtration cartridge size and led to a variety of filter cartridge arrangements in which a flat filter media sheet is folded into pleated structures and placed in a filter cartridge.
One of the competitive technologies to the subject matter of the present disclosure is filter cartridges containing radially pleated filter media. Among the disadvantage of radial pleating, when used in the applications contemplated by the filter cartridges of the present disclosure, is the amount of filter media area that can be contained within a single filter cartridge. For example, one currently commercially available filter cartridge (as a product available from CUNO Incorporated, a 3M Company, under the tradename BETAFINE XL) has the capacity to pack higher amounts of filter media than can be packed into currently known similar two and five tenths inch (2.5 inch) (6 cm) outer diameter filter cartridges but, even with the increased filter media packing, still needs a greater number of filter cartridges than needed by certain embodiments of the present disclosure.
The filter cartridges described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,842,739 and 5,336,405 comprise a relatively high surface area of filter media per unit volume of cartridge but the inner core diameter of these filter cartridges is about one and five tenths inch (1.5 inches) (4 cm). One of the limitations associated with this particular filter cartridge, commonly known as the 3M model number 740B series filter cartridge products, is that the flow rate per filter cartridge is limited to a maximum of about eighty (80) gpm (303 lpm) due to the about one and five tenths inch (1.5 inch) (4 cm) inner core diameter of this particular filter cartridge. Thus, this particular prior art filter cartridge exhibits performance limitations effecting its potential market penetration into the high flow filtration application market.
Many of the prior art patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,683,537, 2,897,971, 3,087,623, 2,732,951, 2,556,521, 2,186,440, 1,928,049, 5,336,405, 5,702,603, 2,683,537 3,867,294 and 2,186,440 utilize paper filter media and/or cartridges that are used for filtering engine oil while the filter media used in the filter cartridge of the present disclosure utilizes in certain embodiments meltblown media made out of polyolefin material such as, for example, polypropylene or an equivalent material.
Thus, it is desirable to provide exemplary high flow fluid filtration systems and methods and systems for manufacturing high flow fluid filtration systems including, but not limited to, filter housings for enclosing at least one filter cartridge, a filter cartridge having a pleated filter media element pack which has the capacity to process a relatively higher liquid flow rate per filter cartridge, for example, about 50 gpm (189 lpm) or higher than similar known prior art filter cartridges, such as 3M model number 740B series filter cartridges; which, in one embodiment, provides a filter media area of about 145 square feet (13 m2) for a given filter cartridge internal volume of about 1327 cubic inches (21745 cm3) for a forty (40) inch (100 cm) length cartridge and about 1991 cubic inches (32626 cm3) for a sixty (60) inch (150 cm) length cartridge; which, in one embodiment, has a relatively smaller foot print than other comparable prior known high flow fluid filtration systems, such as a product available from Pall Corporation, East Hills, N.Y., under the tradename ULTIPLEAT or other conventional 2.5 inch (6 cm) diameter filter cartridges, while achieving approximately the same fluid flow rate through the filter housing; which, in one embodiment, provides a high flow filtration system having a relatively lower cost of filtration to a user when compared to similar filtration systems presently available in the market; which, in one embodiment, provides a high flow filtration system having a relatively higher media packing density (surface area per unit volume of the cartridge of about 0.10 to about 0.14 square feet per cubic inch (about 5.7 to about 7.9 square cm per cubic cm) when compared to competitive filtration system products, such as 3M model number 740B series filter cartridges or PALL ULTIPLEAT filter cartridges; which provides a high flow filtration system having a substantially uniform filter media pleat construction when compared to other known high flow fluid filtration systems, such as 3M model number 740B series filter cartridges; which, in one embodiment, provides a high flow filtration system having a relatively larger core inside diameter (including, but not limited to about 3 inches (8 cm) when compared to similar competitive filtration systems, such as 3M model number 740B series filter cartridges; which, in one embodiment, provides a single filter cartridge capable of processing a filtrate having a flow rate up to about three hundred and fifty (350) gpm (1325 lpm) to about five hundred (500) gpm (1893 lpm), depending upon the length of the filter cartridge and which provides a filtration system having a pleated filter media pack element wherein the filter media is pleated in a uniform, as defined above, cylindrical fashion and in at least one embodiment, has approximately eight (8) flaps that form around themselves, when viewed from the top of the filter cartridge form the shape of an octagon.